overweight
/ˌəʊvəˈweɪt/
"overweight" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“overweight” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,586 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #10,586
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having a higher weight, especially body fat, than what is generally considered healthy for a given body type and height.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | overweight |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˌəʊvəˈweɪt/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #10,586 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “overweight” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for overweight is 10 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌəʊvəˈweɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,586 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for overweight, with forms such as "oevrweight", "overewight", and "overrweight". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "overnight", "oversight", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From over- + weight. The correct English form is overweight, spelled O-V-E-R-W-E-I-G-H-T.
Definition
- 1Having a higher weight, especially body fat, than what is generally considered healthy for a given body type and height.
- 2Weighing more than what is allowed for safety or legal commerce.
- 3Having a portfolio relatively heavily invested in.
Etymology
From over- + weight.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: oevrweight,overewight,overrweight,overwegiht,overweigght,overweighht,overweightt,overweigth,overweihgt,overwieght,overwweight,ovewreight,ovreweight,ovverweight,voerweight
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of overweight - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "overweight"?
What does "overweight" mean?
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Using “overweight”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-V-E-R-W-E-I-G-H-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌəʊvəˈweɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “overnight” - see the side-by-side comparison. overweight vs overnight
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.